Research support for academics: Case studies of two Vietnamese Universities

With the introduction of quality assurance and accreditation requirements for Vietnamese universities, academics are under increasing pressure with regard to teaching workloads and improved research outcomes, for example, in the number and quality of research publications produced (Ninh, 2013; MoET, 2017a). Using two prominent Vietnamese universities as case studies, this paper explores the ways in which the libraries in the two universities currently provide support for research, the gaps in service provision, and the issues that impact on the ability of libraries to provide a high standard of service. The findings provided some insights into the type of strategies that could be adopted in the future, emphasising the need to involve collaboration with other university services, improvements in library staff research skills and knowledge, and ways of overcoming the barriers of organisational, cultural and social attitudes.